CHENNAI: Board exams are undoubtedly the most stressful period for every school child. It could only be more agonizing for visually impaired students, who have to depend on readers, Braille books and scribes to give their best.

To allay their fears and to help them meticulously prepare, lawyers and academics who are visually impaired themselves, offered career and employment guidance to more than 250 children studying in Class 10 and Class 2, who gathered in the city from the districts.

The two-day interactive event was organized on Friday and Saturday by Nethrodaya, an NGO that works for the welfare of visually impaired people. On the first day of the event, the students were directed by experts on how to score better in their subjects, the technological aids they could use and how to manage their time so they could be on a par with other students.

They were also given DVDs of their syllabus, which has recordings of the subjects being taught. P Prema, studying in Class 12, lives in her school hostel in Trichy and depends on her teachers to translate the books to Braille, and her friends to read it out to her. "Though my teachers and friends are very helpful, my only problem is that I cannot study whenever I want to. I finish most of my studies in school itself. I hope this audio material will help me study at my convenience," she told TOI.

The students hailed from villages and from low-income families. Their questions ranged from how to pursue civil services, how to be a musician and what exams they should sit for to become a chartered accountant.

There were some who wanted to know why they need to have computer knowledge if they were going to study English and why they needed to study English when they have already learnt it till their 10th standard.

The counselling helped them to understand jobs that were suitable for visually impaired persons. "Rural students are deprived of education support. Blindness is not their issue, poverty is," says C Govindakrishnan, founder, Nethrodaya. "Most of them are in inclusive schools, but there are practical difficulties. They don't even get free Braille books," said Govindakrishnan.

The event was attended by Justice P N Prakash and V K Jeyakodi, state commissioner for welfare of the differently abled. They highlighted the various government schemes and employment reservations to the school children. "Education alone is not sufficient. You need to know your rights and more importantly you need to fight for them," M Sivakumar, a visually impaired research scholar, told students.